


Ceremonies

by pyrrhical (anoyo)



Series: Really Old Fic [17]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: 10th Anniversary of the Eve War, F/M, Not Good Speech Making, Post-Series, Speech Making
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-17
Updated: 2003-02-17
Packaged: 2018-10-10 03:50:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10428492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anoyo/pseuds/pyrrhical
Summary: Two people deeply in love, but unable to allow the notice of others. Letting the world know of their love would mean admitting to weakness. That was something neither wanted, nor respected.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written 2/17/03. 
> 
> This fic is super weird. I don't even know. Ensemble cast, but 6x9? I don't write that. 
> 
> Just: super weird.
> 
> Also poorly written.
> 
> This will never be finished. 100 requests for me to finish it would not be enough. Never, ever finished.

"Just once more."

"Fine."

Two people deeply in love, but unable to allow the notice of others. Letting the world know of their love would mean admitting to weakness. That was something neither wanted, nor respected. So, they kept it a secret from the world and all eyes that would take advantage of the situation. That meant all of them. Every last person was an enemy to someone, and that person to someone else, them to another and so on until it cane back to the first person. Everyone was everyone's enemy. There are no allies, just temporary companions. When through with them, they too are discarded. Such is life, the never-ending cycle. Eyes of black and brown peer at all, blue and green gossip, hazel and aqua laugh at the findings. No one is safe. One mistake and it's over.

Those are the thoughts of this couple. The couple whose lives are based on those thoughts. They're probably right, too. So, they hide away from peering eyes and keep their love a secret. They want no other, satisfied in their present companion. Life - to them - is just a game of hide and seek. Living in the shadows and appearing at night when the dark is all- powerful. Showing no compassion to those that are hurt in their game; not even to themselves, the most pained of all.

"Again."

"Life is just a game," someone once said, "It has rules and regulations, penalties and tricks, once you die, you just start over. Go back to day one and retry the whole thing, before even realizing what mistakes you've made. Creating the same problems over and over. Living for tomorrow instead of today. Hiding the truth. Thinking more of what's coming than of what is here. Speaking only when necessary. Swearing and laughing at those weaker than yourself, when you are truly the loser. Hoping that you'll get lucky on your next turn. Life is just a game, we as humans are the pawns, with some higher-up playing around with us as puppets. We do as we're told and fall when threatened. No one stays true to a cause when their life is threatened. No. Life is more important than love in a game. You just want to win. Get out on top. Finish with the high score. Well, if life is just a game, then how do we find the finish? What happens when we lose? Where will we end up? In the trash, like a useless old toy? Or being played over, as a personal favorite? Who's the good-guy and who's the bad? How do you tell? Games are written according to a specific plan. Lives are not. We must choose our own paths. If we realize this, then why don't we do it?"

The eternal question of mankind. To do or not to do? How are we to know? We are all like this starving couple. Hoping for a chance. Everyone gets their chance. Some pass it up, some pass it on. Yet, then again, some use that chance to their advantage and live to the fullest. Maybe these two will realize the mistake they are making. Maybe they won't. Who knows? "Not I," said the little fish as his fins grew dry. "I only know that I am dying. Slowly, but surely."

We are all like this fish in a way. Most of us, at least. Some rare and true people find a way to pass death over and live to the absolute fullest.

"Please."

"Of course."

Loving and living. To do or not to do. To live or die. All the same complexity. Some take it on the chin, others the heart. Which is stronger? Which is the weak one, which is the strong? Will we ever know? Maybe not I, but perhaps you. Or them.

"Again."

"Yes."


	2. Chapter One: The Ceremony

"Dammit!" Lady Une shrieked from behind her desk. "Where the hell are they?!?"

"We're coming!" A voice shot from down the hall. Duo Maxwell. The 'Braided Baka.'

"Hurry up, dammit! You have to make your speeches in fifteen minutes! Get ready!"

"Fifteen!?! From the way you were yelling, I thought more on the lines of half a second!" Duo laughed as he came tumbling into the backstage area of the Brussels Ceremonial Auditorium. He was followed by twelve others shortly.

"OK, role call." Une shouted at the group.

"Geez! I feel like I'm back in Kindergarten!" Duo griped to the man sitting next to him. Heero Yuy just rolled his eyes at the pathetic display.

"Maxwell!"

"Here."

"Yuy!"

"Hn."

"Barton!"

"Yes." Trowa Barton looked up at the woman with his one showing green eye.

"Winner!"

"Present!" Quatre Raberba Winner smiled cheerfully.

"Chang!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here." Chang Wu Fei just grumbled his response.

"Peacecraft. Merquise. Oh, who gives a shit!?!"

"Here." Came the annoyed reply from Milliardo Peacecraft/Zechs Merquise.

"Darlian!"

"Here!" Relena Darlian/Peacecraft smiled happily.

"Schbeiker!"

"I'm here." Hilde Schbeiker had joined the Preventer Unit just a little while ago and was quickly becoming part of the group.

"Bloom!"

"Here!" Trowa's elder sister smiled thoughtfully at the woman shouting at them hysterically.

"Catalonia!"

"I'm here already!" Dorothy Catalonia shot back unpleasantly before being elbowed by her fiancée, Quatre Winner.

"Po!"

"I'm here, too." Sally Po mocked Dorothy, getting a stern glare from both the woman and her fiancée.

"Noin!"

"Yep!" Lucrezia Noin looked up at her superior.

"Khushrenada. Barton. What's with the damn double names thing?!?"

"I'm here, mum." Mariemaia Khushrenada/Barton looked in an annoyed manner at her foster mother.

"Good! You're all here!" Une seemed to let out a large breath, but quickly covered it. "Now, as this is the tenth anniversary of the Eve War, I need you all to be completely presentable. Maxwell, I know that's a lot to ask of you, but tough luck, kiddo." Most of the group laughed. "Now. Does everyone have their speeches?"

"Yes, Lady Une. I made sure of that before we left." Relena smiled pleasantly.

"Are all of the speeches appropriate?"

"I don't know about everyone's. But I made sure that Heero's speech was presentable. Slightly perverse. but presentable nonetheless." Relena sweatdropped lightly. The man in question glared at her darkly, but didn't leave much of an impression. She was far too used to it and just pushed him slightly on the forehead with her index finger, smiling.

"Duo? Is yours readable?"

"Why are you picking on me so much? Duo complained.

"Because you are the least responsible person in this group. Even Mariemaia is more responsible than you are!"

"Yes, mine's presentable. Even ask Hilde! She proof-read it!"

"Hilde?"

"Yes, it's fine. But, knowing Duo, he'll probably get sidetracked a couple of times. I really with you'd put him last. That way, if we ran out of time we'd be able to just cut his."

"Hey!" Duo shrieked indignantly.

"I have you in the appropriate order." Une glared at the raven-haired girl.

"What's our order again?" Duo asked stupidly.

"Myself, Heero, Relena, Duo, Hilde, Trowa, Cathrine, Quatre, Dorothy, Wu Fei, Sally, Zechs, Noin, and Mariemaia." Une read off her list.

"I still don't see why half those people are even on that list." Mariemaia just stared at her foster mother.

"I thought that the ones closest to the Gundam Pilots and the Gundam Pilots themselves should all give speeches on what it's been like since the war. Relena's assistant Maya will introduce everyone. She'll give their title and position now and in the war." Une turned to look at Relena. "Am I correct?"

"Yes, as far as I know. She's also going to give a little background on each person. So the crowd understands who they are and what they've done." Heero just glared at her.

"Why do I get the feeling you just did this to piss off Heero?" Duo asked incredulously.

"Wherever did you get that idea?" Relena faked looking injured. "Heero's not upset, are you, dear?" Relena flashed a melting smile at her boyfriend. He, of course, melted and looked away. This caused everyone to laugh at a level near hysterics.

"One minute!" A stage hand yelled to the group.

"OK, everyone ready?" Une looked at the group as she prepared to escort Maya onto the stage. Maya had just showed up.

There was a chorus of yeses from the group and Une smiled in relief. She had everyone get out their speeches, then left with Maya.

One the stage, Maya started the Ceremony.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I welcome you all here tonight to hear the speeches of those most thoroughly involved in this War whose conclusion we are celebrating. Now, ten years after the war, we'll hear them reflect on the war and how it changed the world. Our speakers tonight are: Miss Une, Mr. Heero Yuy, Miss Relena Darlian, Mr. Duo Maxwell, Miss Hilde Schbeiker, Mr. Trowa Barton, Miss Cathrine Bloom, Mr. Quatre Winner, Miss Dorothy Catalonia, Mr. Chang Wu Fei, Miss Sally Po, Mr. Zechs Merquise, Miss Lucrezia Noin, and Miss Mariemaia Khushrenada. Now, with the onslaught of speakers ready to speak to you all, let me introduce the first speaker. Make a note that one or two speakers may come out at once.

"Our first speaker is Miss Une. As her title is Lady Une, the audience knows that this woman holds a very high position of authority. But, above our admiration of her authority, is our respect of this amazing woman. Lady Une started out as a highly ranked official for the Alliance Military, but was on the side of OZ - the Organization of the Zodiac - when they accomplished their coup de tat. She remained with OZ until a gun shot wound stopped her participation in battle. She returned, however, to help lead the world to peace during the Eve Battle. In her broadcasting of the legendary fight between the Epyon Gundam and the Wing Gundam ZERO, she showed the world exactly what was needed for total pacifism. She then started the Government funded organization 'Preventer'. She leads the Preventer Organization to this day and we must admit that she is very good at her job. Now, she will give her speech." The audience applauded the wonderful announcer and watched as Lady Une made her way to the podium.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming here today to hear us speak." She looked out at the crowd, in awe at the size. Streets were packed with people surrounding the outdoor stage. She knew by assumption that there had to be ten thousand people gathered in that one place to hear the speeches of those so readily involved during and after the war. She looked out upon the hundreds of cameras recording the speeches and broadcasting them live on their TV networks. Lady Une smiled in spite of herself.

"When I first joined the OZ Organization I was filled with numerous wishes and desires. At that time, in all honesty, the only thing I wanted was power. But, after following the fights and proclamations, I realized that what I really wanted was an end to the endless fighting and disagreements. That became my goal and aspiration throughout the war and afterwards. It was also my inspiration. A world without any fighting whatsoever is impossible to create. At least with humans leading it. But, we are as close to that point as we will ever be and I'm happy for that development. Due to the efforts of my wonderful crew, we have been able to prevent anything too severe from arising. True peace is here, and I will do everything in my power to protect it. I have people that I love and want to protect just as much as any other person on this planet. Being a soldier out of war doesn't mean that one's purpose is gone, it just means that your purpose has changed. For the soldiers who fought so desperately for peace, their jobs are nowhere near being done. We now protect the peace.

"As was already stated, I have a family and people that I love. After the 196 coup de tat, I adopted Mariemaia and she is now my daughter. I have a wonderful and productive life and there isn't anything that I'd change about anything that has happened to me. My life now exists for the sole purpose of keeping the peace and protecting this wonderful girl of which I do truly love as my daughter. Family, I think, is something that is required in order to learn to accept the way things have changed since the war. The love of others and the love of myself is what has guided me through everything." Lady Une laughed lightly as the audience applauded the end of her speech. As an afterthought, she added, "And the moral of the story is to always find the good in things and love one another." The audience laughed with her this time. Lady Une bowed and walked back offstage.

"Thank you, Lady, for that wonderful speech." Maya smiled in respect as Une left the stage. "Now. Our next pair of speakers are Mr. Heero Yuy and Miss Relena Darlian." The audience clapped as the two walked onstage.

"Now. I'm sure you've all seen them. Miss Darlian is the current Vice Foreign Minister to the colonies and Mr. Yuy is the head of her security." Half of the audience laughed, the other just smiled respectively. "I'm sure you've all seen at least one of Miss Relena's speeches. If you haven't, you don't know what you're missing!" Relena blushed as the audience laughed lightly. "If you haven't seen Mr. Yuy, or perhaps just didn't recognize him, Miss Relena asked me to add that he's the one who's always following her around." Heero nearly facefaulted, Relena smiled innocently, and everyone else laughed.

"Now, Mr. Yuy is known for a few other things as well." Maya continued after the laughing had - for the most part - stopped. "As he doesn't seem to want to tell us much about his past, all we know is the few details he's provided throughout the war. Mr. Yuy is best known for being the pilot of Gundam Unit 01 - Wing Gundam, and Gundam Unit 00 - Wing Gundam ZERO. He is Gundam Pilot 01 and was one of the pilots in the final fight of the Eve War." Maya allowed the audience to applaud, and grinned when she noticed Heero had turned a slightly reddish color and Relena was smiling at him.

"Mr. Yuy was also the Pilot to break the defenses of Mariemaia's base during the coup de tat of 196." The audience applauded once more and Relena held on to the hand on the one she loved most. Though he looked more like a tomato than a human being.

"Now, Miss Relena is someone we all know as the Vice Foreign Minister. She has been holding her position for close to the last ten years, and doing it well, mind you." The audience cheered and all of the speakers had the sudden feeling that a lot of them had just come to personally see Relena talk. "Miss Relena was one of the first people to support the Gundams during the war, though she never got the chance to get to know Mr. Barton or Mr. Chang very well during that time. She is proud that she helped out, and was a great help, too. Mr. Maxwell asked me to add that she was probably the one who prevented the war from ending differently. He asked me to say something else as well, but it's not quite appropriate." The audience laughed and everyone heard Duo's cry from the back of "Oi!"

"Miss Relena would also like to embarrass Mr. Yuy further by assuring that they are going out. If anyone was curious." Heero turned - if possible - an even darker shade of red and Relena smiled triumphantly while the audience laughed. hard. "Now, with no further ado, if he is able to speak coherently, Mr. Heero Yuy is going to give his speech." They all laughed harder and Heero went up to the podium. He had clamed himself down pretty well and had returned to a healthy facial shade.

"I was asked to give a speech today about how I felt during the war and how I feel now." Heero began. Most of the audience was slightly taken aback at the deep tone of voice he had and how it was more of a monotone than a pitch. "During the war, my objective was originally just to destroy OZ, as my superiors had commanded me to. During the course of the battles, however, my mind formed its own - slightly subconscious - objective. And, much to the dismay of myself and most likely a few of you, I have yet to figure out what that was. During the war, even I must admit that my actions and ways of doing things changed. I went from knowing the absolute purpose of my fighting to not knowing what the hell I was doing." Most of the audience laughed at his use of 'an inappropriate word', while the other half fumed.

"If I were to take into consideration everything that happened - all the changes and additions to my life - I would most likely find what I am looking for, my objective. However, that is not my desire. During the twenty-five years that I have been alive, I have realized three major things. The first being that peace is much better than the endless struggle that is war. The second being less obvious. I once told a friend of mine - he knows who he is - that it is always best to act off of one's emotions. That's not always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes, what your heart tells you to do is in exact contradiction to what your head is screaming at you. I've had years of training to make my abilities as a soldier as high as they are. In my training, I was advised to listen to my head, and not my heart. The man who told me this said that it was easier that way. He said that my heart would only bring me sorrow and pain. To be honest, that's how I've lived most of my life. Ignoring what my heart tells me, and doing what my head insists is right. Until the war. During the course of that one year war, I realized that my what my heart was telling me to do was what I really wanted to do and that what my heart said was what would have the best results. Now I realize that even that thought is wrong. I am not God, so I cannot declare truly which is correct. My heart or my head? But, in my experience, doing what your heart tells you to do leaves you feeling the best later. For those who are wondering, that is exactly how I mastered the ZERO system. My head only did what the System told it to. My heart listened to its feelings. I know that most of this audience - and all of the audiences in their homes - have no idea what I'm talking about. So, my conclusion to this issue, is when it comes to fighting and violence, your head usually has the results to keep you from becoming mortally wounded, so it is the best choice. But, when dealing with living creatures, your heart knows the most compassionate way to deal with things. As the war is over, you'd think that my heart has won me over. As I mentioned at the start of this subject, it's not that simple. I can't just pretend that my training never happened. I know it did and I can't change what happened to me. I can only say that each person needs their own conclusion to this subject. Mine is adequate to me and me alone. I don't think that I have a duplicate anywhere, so my answers apply to me alone. I only hope that they help somewhat in your own search. So that no one has to go through what I did." Heero paused for a moment and let out a large breath. Unbeknownst to him, his love was on the verge of crying, as was almost every member of the audience and most backstage.

"The third thing that I've learned is that no matter what you think, nothin can be accomplished if you do it alone. Sure, there are things like reading and writing and drawing that are solitary activities, but after a while, you'll wind up sharing them with someone, who shares them with another, and another, until almost everyone knows what you do and either agrees or disagrees. Never shroud yourself in solitude, it'll only end up coming back at you. I grew up with people who were - for the most part - much older than me. I guess the person closest to my age was the man who raised me when I was very small and he was twenty-eight years my senior. In all respect to these people, I must admit that I didn't have any very good mentors in my youth. The only thing that mattered to them was the fact that I could be manipulated, as I was still a child. I guess, in all aspects, I didn't really have a childhood. I was forced to 'grow up', as one would call it, far too quickly. But, in spite of everything, even I now realize that no one deserves to be alone all the time. Everyone needs someone. Just to know that they're cared about. To give them a reason to go on. Even me, the most suicidal maniac among the five - six, rather - of us needs someone to make sure he doesn't screw something up horribly. I know that some of you out there are snubbing your noses to me and saying 'Yeah, right! I don't need nobody!'. Believe me, no matter how independent you are, or how much people laugh at you, you need somebody; and, if you wait long enough, somebody will come." He let a small smile slip in Relena's direction. "And if someone as seriously screwed up as I am actually found someone that they think cares about them, I'm sure you can, too. No matter who you are." He smiled slightly to the audience. It was a small sad, yet knowing smile. As though he were looking at every person directly and understanding. He bowed his head in the Japanese manner, and left the podium to go and stand next to Relena once more. The area was still and quiet for some time before one single person started clapping and everyone joined in whole-heartedly. Heero just smiled slightly and nudged Relena in the direction of the podium as she didn't seem to be moving.

Maya, however, came to the rescue. "Very. nice. speech, Mr. Yuy." She said almost breathlessly. "And now, Miss Relena Darlian would like to giver her speech." The audience applauded lightly and Relena went up to the podium.

"I'd again like to thank everyone for coming and caring enough to listen to a dozen or so long and boring speeches." The audience laughed. "Well, I'm not so sure I can say that truthfully. I know that plenty of the speeches you'll hear tonight are going to be very. entertaining. To say the least." She smiled as she thought of Duo and Hilde. "Now, Heero and I originally wrote our speeches together, but he didn't exactly follow his, so I guess I'm just going to have to improvise. Not that his other speech was anywhere near as good as that." She smiled lightly as her lover blushed gently and watched her every move. She sighed and smiled lightly. Some things would never change. "If I'm not badly mistaken, I think that my dear Head Of Security just bested the speech I myself wrote. I'd like to console myself with the thought that he's done this before, but he seems to be shaking his head." The audience laughed at Relena's fake conceit.

"Well, I guess I'd like to start by stating the well-known fact that the peace we know live in could not have been possible if not for a few select people who did more than their fair share in the war. I don't think I'm allowed to go on about this, as your previous speaker is glaring at me. Yes, dear, I know what you want to say." Relena chuckled lightly and the audience watched in mild confusion, but definite enthusiasm.

"Now, I didn't really do all that much during the war in means of fighting, but everyone seems to insist that I did help a bit in the coming of peace." Heero flicked a paper clip at her. "Hey, you! Watch it!" Relena laughed at him. "Or maybe I'll just have to embarrass you in front of thousands of people." She stuck out her tongue and he just grinned back with a look of mock innocence, "Well, peace really is a wonderful thing, but that's not what I'm about to talk about." She smiled. "I can practically hear the thousands of soft sighs of relief. I'm pretty sure you were all worried that I was going to give one of my peace speeches again. Well, lucky for you, I'm not." She put up her nose in a look of mock snobbery. "I'm going to talk about what I've noticed about the Gundam Pilots and how they've changed since and during the war." She smiled at Heero's only partially covered look of pure terror. "Don't worry, I'm focusing this on all of you." She looked up in thought. "Well, a little more focused on Milliardo, Heero, Quatre, and Duo than Trowa and Wu Fei as I didn't know them very well during the war. I'm sorry to the two of them. I'll also focus a few things on Miss Noin and her relationship with us all." Relena smiled.

"Well, for starters, I didn't even know that Milliardo was my brother until during his and Heero's fight in Antarctica (forgive me if that's the wrong location! I know it's either Antarctica or Siberia. ^^;;). So, it's OK to say that I didn't meet him first during the war. That was actually Heero. Then Duo, but that's a rather odd story. So, of course I'm going to tell you!" She smiled sweetly. "Well, no offense to you, Heero, but he wasn't exactly a pleasant person to be around when I first met him. He knocked out a med squad and stole the ambulance." She shrugged nonchalantly as the crowd laughed. "Then he showed up at my High School and told me he was going to kill me. How pleasant! Then I met Duo, he was resurfacing Wing and Deathscythe and Heero had been intending to destroy his Gundam. So, for some reason I still don't comprehend, Duo shot Heero. I think it was because Heero was going to shoot me. But, he did and Heero wound up at the hospital. Not solely because of that, but that's just plain a weird story. Duo was his charming sarcastic self even then, though I do think that he had a little more on his mind. Well, I met Milliardo after them, then Quatre. To sum up their personalities, Heero was moody and extraordinarily annoying to be around, Duo was chipper and made a joke out of everything, Milliardo seemed to have a lot of steam to blow off, and Quatre was as pleasant as is humanly possible. Well, as the war progressed, Heero got slightly less moody and Duo wavered between being more optimistic and less so. Milliardo gained even more steam, and Quatre got a little bit less pleasant, as I think he was confused. Well, their personalities didn't change much until the final battles with the White Fang and Libra. I think that they became more aware of each other and of what they were trying to accomplish. During the final battle, I must admit that I couldn't see the point of it. It took me a while; call me dense if you like. Well, it wasn't meaningless, as we all can see. I think that I realized how important that battle really was to everyone, the soldiers mostly. And Miss Noin. She helped them all so many times in so many ways that I could never. I also think that her friendship with my brother stopped him from doing a few things he might have regretted afterwards." Relena smiled. "I think that Miss Noin's belief in them helped them all through the battle. She was very supportive and helped out in any way she could. I know that it may seem that I did nothing. But, I know I did and Heero if you look at me like that one more time I'm going to deck you!" The audience turned its attention to Heero to notice that he was glaring at her. "I know I helped you all, too! You don't have to remind me!" The audience laughed at how aggravated she was getting.

"Well, now in this time of peace, I've noticed things slowly change. Some are for the better, and some for the worse, but that's how life goes. You have to take the good with the bad. I finally got to know all of the Gundam Pilots and admire each of them for their separate skills. Heero has lightened up a bit. It's still not quite normal for people to behave as he does a lot of the time, but he's getting better. I think that has a lot to do with Duo constantly hanging around our home." She raised an eyebrow. "At least the rumors were wrong." She giggled as Heero's eyes widened and he glared at her as hard as he could. "I hope to not get into that." She winked at the audience. "Well, Duo's gotten even more optimistic and jokes constantly. Though, some of his gags aren't funny. Like the whole video camera thing in the kitchen. See now, that was just weird." The audience laughed. hard. "Trowa has gotten a little more social. He used to hardly speak at all, now he actually holds conversations with me! I'm dying to hear his speech tonight." She grinned maniacally. "Quatre, if possible, is now more polite and considerate than he was before, and Wu Fei has serious problems with women." She laughed, the audience raised eyebrows, Wu Fei yelled indignantly from backstage, and Heero could hardly keep from laughing. "Well, the last two people to consider into this are my brother and Noin. Milliardo no longer looks like he wants to deck somebody all the time, though I know he'd love to deck poor Heero here." She mocked feeling sorry for the boy with super-human abilities. "And Noin hasn't really changed much. Her and my brother are usually together, she stills helps out with anything she can, and she still dyes her hair blue. I think it's actually kind of classy." Relena smiled cheerily. "I know that speech was - for the most part - pointless. But, I summed up how everybody acts and didn't preach about peace, so I think it was pretty good. Considering I improvised. Now you can judge for yourselves how much you think they've changed. You can also judge the love interests." Relena grinned in a way that made everyone wonder if she had a secret. "Well, once again, thank you for coming." The audience cheered enthusiastically.

"Well, now, weren't they wonderful? Can I have another round of applause for Miss Relena and Mr. Yuy?" The audience clapped once more. "Well, our next two speakers are Mr. Duo Maxwell and Miss Hilde Schbeiker." She pointed to the stairs Relena and Heero were descending and Duo and Hilde emerged.

"Now, Me. Maxwell is best known for being Gundam Pilot 02 and one of the most chipper people on the planet. He's also known for his yard long braid." The audience laughed, then pretty much stopped when they realized that Maya was serious. "Mr. Maxwell was raised on the L2 Colony cluster and won't tell us anything more, so we don't have much to tell you. Now, he and Miss Hilde have been married for the last six years and still get along wonderfully. They have two children, a daughter named Kaijuu, which roughly translated means 'Monster' in Japanese. Duo claims that Heero thought it up and only told him what it meant after Duo named his child that. Their other child is a son named Joshua. Josh is three and Kai will be six next September. Roughly nine months after their sixth wedding anniversary," The audience members ho understood this all laughed. Scarily, some didn't. "First to speak will be Mr. Maxwell." Duo poked her once. "Oh! I forgot to add that Hilde is only going by Schbeiker on stage in case of someone recognizing her name and not her face. Her legal last name is Maxwell, too."

"Thank you!" Duo took over the microphone. "Well, it's my turn now, so I hope I do a good job! I'm going to talk about what things I think helped the war turn out the war it did. First off, we all know that the war ended in peace and harmony, but I know a few ways it could have ended otherwise. First off, I think we all know that there had only been a sliver of a chance for the war to end the way it did. I may be bias, but I really believe that Heero and Relena had more to do with this than anyone else. 'Cept for maybe Zechs, but he was the bad guy, so we needed him either way." Duo smiled. "For those of you who don't know, Heero wasn't kidding when he said 'Suicidal Maniac' about himself. I, personally, think that Relena's probably the only reason he didn't go through with it so many times. I know that hundreds of thousands of other people played great roles as well, and none of this would have been possible without them, but I really am bias I guess. I think that people give too much credit to us Gundam Pilots. Seriously, why would we fight? We had to have reasons, right? And those reasons involve people. I think that was Lady Une's secret motif for inviting Cathrine, Hilde, Dorothy, and Mariemaia to give speeches. Well, Mariemaia may have just been a given, too. Without these people backing us up, I don't think that any of us - us being the Gundam Pilots - could have been able to survive the war. I have Hilde, Heero had Relena, Trowa had his sister Cathrine to protect, Quatre had all of his sisters, though they aren't here, and he also had Dorothy in ways that only he and she understand." Duo almost sweatdropped. "Wu Fei had Sally to count on and defend whether he wants to admit it or not. He should admit it, as they're married for Cripes sake! And Zechs and Noin kinda had each other, though they to this day aren't romantically involved, or not that anyone knows about. Which is odd. Maybe they really are just best friends, who knows? I ain't all-knowing or anything like that. We all had people that we counted on, and I don't think that enough credit goes to them. We Gundam Pilots are practically the only ones admired for winning the war, when really, we couldn't have done anything without motivation. I know how I felt when Hilde was threatened. I didn't like that at all. Everyone has someone, like Heero said. I think that those people should get more credit for this. So be sure to give them a nice round of applause, 'K?" He grinned. "That's pretty much all of my speech. Lady Une is probably sighing in relief back stage. I'm kinda the goof off. Well, everybody needs someone to lighten things up! Am I right?" The crowd cheered. "Thought so. Well, listen good and hard to Hilde here, she deserves it just as much as anyone else giving a speech." Duo left the podium and Hilde stepped up.

"Well, thanks to Duo's nice little speech, I think I've figured out why I was invited. But, I still don't know what role I played. First off, I was a member of OZ, and when we captured Duo, I met him. He kinda defeated me and changed my mind about what I was fighting for, so I decided to help him and the Gundam Pilots. But pretty much all I could do was give Duo a place to live. I tried the whole getting data off Libra thing, but Duo wound' up saving me from that, too. I guess, I must have made a difference somehow, as all living things have a role to play. I've lived a happy life so far, and I think it'll stay that way for quite a while now. It's just a feeling I get. I don't regret anything I've done and I don't expect to ever do so. All things have a purpose so don't try to stop the inevitable. Shit happens, live with it!" Hilde laughed. "I don't really have a very good speech planned, and that was most of it, but I really do enjoy being here and seeing all these people loving peace and how the world has changed. Remember what it was like during the war and think about how we are today. Everything is just so wonderful now. We live in peace and are able to love the ones we love with no one stopping us. We can live life to the fullest. That's for sure. I just hope that no one ever takes that for granted." Hilde smiled. "That's all my speech. I know it wasn't long, but I put a lot of heart into it, and I think it came across pretty well, right?" The audience cheered loudly and Hilde blushed and walked down from the podium.

"Those were both wonderful speeches, weren't they?" Maya asked the audience and got another applause for her answer. "Next up are Mr. Trowa Barton and Miss Cathrine Bloom. Give me a round of applause for our two next speakers!" The crowd did so and Trowa and Cathrine came out from back stage. "Mr. Barton is best known for being Gundam Pilot 03 and one of the most silent people I've ever met. He's great at acrobatics and works at a circus. Miss Cathrine, his elder sister, also works for that same circus and is a knife thrower. Trowa hasn't told us of his past either, so we're not at liberty to say anything. Miss Cathrine has lived on her own since her parents died. She's very talented and does many things that a lot of people only dream about. Welcome these two to the stage!"

Trowa and Cathrine walked onto stage and Trowa walked up to the podium.

"I'd like to talk about recognizing and liking who you are." Trowa smiled lightly. "I know I sound like a psychiatrist, but that's OK by me. You see, I have no memory of who I really am or what my real name is. I went by 'Nanashi' for most of my life. I was called Trowa after the real Trowa Barton was killed and I took his place. I didn't really like not knowing who I was, or not knowing anything about myself, but there wasn't really all that much I could do about it. After a while, I stopped caring. I like my life, and my name. As a result of war, I have no real name, and no memories, but it's OK.. I don't mind anymore. I know that this doesn't wound like it has all that much to say about war, but in its own way, it's similar. It's the reason I was ever in the war and how I got in. I think it's relevant and something that people should hear. I'm sorry if this was short, but I don't like talking in front of too many people. I like to contain myself to my thoughts." He bowed politely and stepped down, allowing Cathrine the stand. The audience applauded loudly,

"Well, like Hilde, I don't know what all I did for the war, but I did try to be there for Trowa. He's my brother and I'll do all I can to help him. Before I knew he was my brother - and I still don't know for certain - I still did all I could to help him. It doesn't matter if you like a person or not, you should show compassion for them and their ideals anyway. Maybe share your opinion with them and see what they think of it. Don't judge people by what they like to who they are. Think about what's on the inside. Loving someone doesn't mean you're related to them or want to marry them, it can just be compassion for another person. I'm not going to go and say that if we did this there wouldn't be any war, that's not true. People are bound do disagree sooner or later, and if those are brash, hot- headed people with a lot of money and supplies, it could turn into a war. Most wars do start from a single disagreement. That's just how things work, ya know?" Cathrine smiled. "That's about all I wanted to say. Sorry if it wasn't all that relevant." Everyone clapped.

"Well, short but sweet, ya know?" Maya laughed lightly and the crowd cheered. "Next are Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner and his fiancée Miss Dorothy Catalonia. Mr. Winner is Gundam Pilot 04 and one of the nicest damn people I know! He always has his heart in the right place and has more compassion than I could ever dream of having. Quatre has twenty-nine elder sisters, so that could be why." She winked at the audience. "Miss Dorothy is - what she likes so way - practically Quatre's opposite. I think that she's wonderfully nice, but she says that she and Quatre are polar opposites. Judge for yourself!" With that, the two walked on stage and took Trowa and Cathrine's places. Quatre stepped up to the podium.

"Thank you for coming and listening to us all speak, it is a truly wonderful thing. During the beginning of the war, I thought that fighting was stupid and pointless, and refused to do more than absolutely necessary. After fighting for quite a while a realized that fighting really is necessary. There must be some bad times so that we appreciate the good times. I love life and hope to live it to my fullest. To me, there is no more important thing than life. I though that the people who started wars felt that life was worthless. Granted, there are people who feel that way, but I don't. The people who start wars usually aren't all that different from you and me. They have hearts and souls, and compassion, and live life the same as everyone. They just become either confused or have some ulterior motif for why they're fighting. Like with Mr. Treize. He just wanted peace. He tried to bring it round through military involvement and succeeded. Yet, at one point and time, he was our enemy. He was really a good person, so whose to say that all the people who start wars aren't like that. Sure, there'll be those conceited people who just want power and the might to rule over others, there'll always be people like that. The world won't change over night, and I don't think that it'll even change all that much." Quatre smiled and blushed. "I usually have much better and longer speeches than this, but this is what my heart told me to write and read, so I did. I'm sorry if some people disagree with me, that's how it goes." He bowed politely. "Now, I'll let Miss Dorothy talk." He stepped aside politely and let Dorothy through.

"Well, now! He really is polite, isn't he?" The audience laughed. "We're getting married in three weeks and he still calls me 'Miss Dorothy'. No offense, love, but that's rather pathetic." Quatre blushed and the audience laughed. "Well, I used to think that I loved war and fighting and things like that. I used to follow the Gundam Pilots around just to see the good fights. I found myself strangely intrigued by them and thought that that was why. But, over time I realized that it wasn't the war that I loved. It was the passion used in that war. My father was killed in war, and I thought that that would be a heroic way to die. I was wrong. Wishing to die heroically basically says that you won't. Heroics aren't what are really important in life. It's why you do the things you do. I found that I loved war because I knew that it would one day lead to peace. And it did, thank God. Now, I love peace and want nothing other. I know that there will be more wars and people will always continue to fight as it is in our nature, our very blood to fight. But, when that happens, a whole new set of heroes will appear out of nowhere when you least expect it and save everyone, like the Gundam Pilots did. They really did save us all, and I'm glad. I hope that the next war happens after I die, as well. I know that is rather conceited of me, but I think that one is enough in every person's lifetime. Even less! Well, that's my whole speech. I hope you enjoyed it." Dorothy bowed and she and Quatre left the stage before the audience had a chance to applaud tem. They had been cut off earlier as well when Dorothy started directly after Quatre finished and they though that it would be rude to clap while she was speaking.

"Right! Next are Mr. Chang Wu Fei and Miss Sally Po. I'm also supposed to mention that since they're married. her legal name is Mrs. Sally Chang. Or Chang Sally, however they prefer." The two stepped onstage. "Both of these speakers have asked me to only announce that Mr. Chang is Gundam Pilot 05 and Miss Sally was a doctor for the Alliance and later spent her time helping the Gundam Pilots. Now Mr. Chang will speak.

"I would like to talk about a few things that I've realized. My speech isn't long, and if you for some odd reason feel the needs to applaud in the middle, please refrain. And if you really think that my speech sucked, don't applaud. False gratitude is worse than just sitting and not saying a thing." The audience remained silent. "At the start of the war, I was fighting just to avenge the death of my wife, Chang Meilan. But, as I continued fighting, I realized that the war had meaning for me too. If you do something half-heartedly, you come out with a half-hearted result. Things like that are suicide in war. As the war progressed, I realized that I wasn't just fighting for Meilan anymore. I realized t that I was fighting for me, too. When I realized that, I was able to put her soul to rest. If you don't put your heart into something, you can't realistically expect wonderful results. Things like that only happen in books or fairy tales. Not in real life, not in war, nor in anything else. Also, I must admit that I used to think lowly of women. Hate me if you wish. I know now that women are just as good as men, some better. But we are all human, thus we are all equal. That's just so you don't think lowly of anyone who rags on me about that subject." He bowed and everyone applauded. Sally walked up to the podium next.

"Well, during the war, I didn't really do anything all that impressive. I just did what I could to help the pilots out. I retrieved the Gundams, rescued people, was rescued, and provided assistance. I don't ask for recognition unless you believe that I deserve it. I did what any other person in my position with my options would have done. Helping them was the least I could do. I did a little extra forcing Wu Fei to admit that women are just as good as men, but it seems I made him fall in love with me as well. Oh, well, I don't mind." She grinned evilly. "We were asked to talk about the war and I have. I know that the others each talked about a specific part, but I like to sum things up. I didn't do anything that great, so I won't say that I did. I did what I could and I don't regret it. I don't regret making Wu Fei fall in love with me either, as he's glaring at me for that little comment." The audience laughed. "Maybe it was vice verse, but I don't think so. Women are a lot more provocative than men could ever be. Also, Maya failed to mention that Wu Fei and I asked her to tell you about our children. Unless Wu Fei got to her and told her not to, she probably forgot. Oh, well, I'll do it. We have three children. Yes, actually more than hyper boy Duo. That's only because I had one of them first and then twins. We got married about three years ago - it'll be four in April - and had our first child about eight and a half months after the wedding. But, the child was premature so we weren't naughty." Sally almost cracked up as Wu Fei turned a bright red color. "The twins were born about three months ago. Our eldest in Cassandra, and the twins are Brittany and Michael. Despite Wu Fei's former lack of passion for women, I think that he spends more time with his daughters than with his son." She laughed out loud this time. "Well, that's all, so we'll let Zechs, Noin, and Mariemaia go." She grabbed Wu Fei and dragged him off stage before the applause could start.

"Hmm. why do I get the feeling that some of these people don't want applause?" Maya shrugged. "Well, next is Mr. Zechs Merquise - or Milliardo Peacecraft, whichever - and Miss Lucrezia Noin." The two walked on stage talked lightly about something. "They've asked mo not to even mention anything. They figured that enough would have been said earlier. I think it has." The crowd was silent. "Well, Mr. Merquise will give his speech now."

Zechs walked up to the podium. "I'd like to comment that, yes, it was me who started the White Fang and fought against the Gundams in the Eve War. Why am I not in jail? Got me." He smiled lightly and the audience laughed. "But, the war was necessary as it taught us how much we rally want this peace, and we earned it outright. My only intention was for peace to come, though it did not seem that way at times." Noin almost choked trying to hold back laughter and he glared at her, only provoking more laughter. "Ok, ignore her." He said is an irritated manner. "Someday another will come like me to test the peace or to break it, I have faith that we'll win once more and that the people will be just as glad at that ten year anniversary as we are now. In time, peace will start to get boring for some people, and people will respect it less. But I know that the people who are watching all of these speeches will appreciate the peace a little longer. What we're doing is reliving the war for you. So that you don't become hasty with this fragile peace. Don't suddenly decide that it's boring this way, remind yourself what you went through last time. That's really all I have to say. I'm not very good at making speeches, that's why Relena was in charge of the Sanc Kingdom and not me. I'd never do the job properly, Just remember all the pains we've gone through and remember what peace is worth to all of you." He stepped down and everyone applauded. Noin went up next.

"Well, I don't really know what to say up here, so I'm just going to say what's on my mind. For those of you who are sitting at home or in the audience and think that we're just trying to moralize you, you're wrong. We're just trying to make you understand that peace is worth a lot more than you think it is. Maybe if you didn't fight in the war, or didn't take sides, or didn't really care, you don't think of this as so big. But those of you who did do those things, don't you think that you appreciate it just a little bit more? Hearing someone else's opinion on things always makes them more clear to me. I don't know about anybody else. I love this peace that we have, and I know that deep down, everybody does. I just hope that everyone sees that place deep down. I don't want a repeat of the Eve War. Everything was just so confusing. No, a more understandable war would be better. But, I know that isn't possible, so I'll just hope that peace is always the goal of the wars." She nodded her head. "Thank you." The audience clapped loudly for her brief, but realistic, speech.

"Well, two very good speeches. We have only one speaker remaining. Her name is Mariemaia Khushrenada. She was one of the main people involved in the coup de tat of 196. She's sixteen years old and has just as much to say." Mariemaia walked out.

"Thank you for actually listening to me after what I've done. I know that peace is a fragile thing and that one should not mess with it once it has been attained, but every now and then, even I believe that the peace should be tested so that people don't take it for granted. I know that people won't take this peace for granted for a long time, so I have nothing so worry about." She smiled a cute smile. "That's all I really had to say, so let's just have everyone come out and we'll answer your question and talk to you." All fourteen speakers lined up on the stage, am isle was made for them to walk through, and they each went down to meet and talk with the people who had come. They mingled and went to pretty much everybody they could.

That evening ended successfully. But what awaits tomorrow? All you can do is wait.


	3. Chapter Two: Forbidden Romance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My god, kill me with these chapter titles, please. High school Freshman. Remember: high school Freshman.
> 
> On the original notes for this, even 14-year-old me thought this chapter sucked.

The man ran his fingers through the hair of his beloved once more before rising and retrieving his missing articles of clothing. He turned to look sadly at the beautiful sleeping face before walking out through the front exit.

Unbeknownst to him, the woman had been awake throughout everything. She closed her eyes gently and curled into a fetal position to cry. Her eyes clouded over about an hour later, and she fell into an uneasy sleep. She had a terrible feeling that something was going to happen, and no one would like it.

*~~*~~*~~*

"Dammit!" Duo Maxwell jumped up and down in agony. His wife walked through the door carrying their son.

"What happened?" Hilde asked, almost ready to laugh.

"I dropped the damn hammer on my foot!" He screeched. "Fuck!"

"Duo, watch you language." Hilde reprimanded his as their son shouldn't be hearing his father's language.

"But, geez, that hurt!"

"Well, maybe you should let a professional do it. You know we can afford it, love." Hilde grinned as she watched him explode.

"If I can repair a fucking Gundam, I think I can do this! It's just repairing the ceiling! How hard can this damn job be?!?"

"Obviously quite. That's the fourth time you've injured yourself in the past hour, Duo. Let the professional do it." Hilde shrugged. "Or at least call Heero or Wu Fei to come and help you. You can't hold that board and nail at the same time. You'll just keep hurting yourself."

"Fine. I'm calling Yuy. He has the smallest chance of making fun of me for it." He grumbled as he walked off to find a phone. Dialing the number, Duo was rewarded by his best friend's face appearing almost automatically.

"Hello, Duo." Duo could practically hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"Can you come over and help me repair our ceiling?" Duo got straight to the point.

"Sure. I have no life of my own." He rolled his eyes.

"Geez, you're in a bad mood!"

"I have to have dinner with Zechs." He looked close to pulling his hair out or just wanting to punch out a wall.

"Lucky you." Duo teased.

"Noin isn't coming." Duo winced. No one to defend the Perfect Soldier this time.

"Doesn't he listen to Relena any more?"

"Not as much so as he does with Noin. I either have to remain perfectly silent or judge what I say very carefully. It's not fair." He groaned.

"Can you complain at my house? I need some serious help here."

"Sure, be right over." With that, he hung up.

"He's sure not one for conversation." Hilde commented.

"No, he just realized I wasn't kidding."

"That too." Hilde giggled and poked her husband in the ribs. The laughed and kissed her mouth rather forcefully. "OK, you, get back to work." Hilde teased.

"What'll you do to me if I don't?"

"Well, I can think of a couple of things." Hilde grinned. "Either not speak to you, or skip your supper." Duo mocked having a heart attack. "Now go!"

"Do I get a reward?"

"Yeah, food." Hilde rolled her eyes. "I'm pregnant enough as is." They both laughed at Hilde's state. She was about four months pregnant. And in this hot July month, that was a royal pain in the ass.

About fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door and Hilde opened it to reveal a rather disgruntled Heero Yuy.

"What happened to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He walked past her to find Duo bouncing around on one foot in the kitchen occasionally muttering 'Fuck', or 'Damn'. "Seems to me like stating the fact that you're incompetent would be an understatement. Why didn't you just wait until I got here?" Heero walked over and picked up the hammer from the floor where it had hit Duo's foot and bounced to.

"I got bored. What took so long?"

"Relena had a fit. She said that I should be getting ready for her brother's return to earth greeting, and I was leaving. I love her, sure, but her yelling at me profusely is just plain a pain." He groaned and picked up the boards that were going on the ceiling. Duo and Hilde had a ceiling that looked like it should have been the floor to a deck or patio. They had scorched about four of them by starting a chicken on fire at Duo's twenty-sixth birthday party. That had been two weeks ago.

"Well, now you can help me out and forget all about it!" Duo said cheerily as he handed Heero the other hammer. "This one works better. I'll hold the board and you pound. I don't want you to have to get your pretty little fingers smashed up before your nice dinner party." Duo mocked.

"Do you want to get hurt?"

"Not really."

"Then do the world a favor and shut up."

"Yes, sir!" Duo mock saluted.

"Now, how the hell am I supposed to ignore Zechs when he's always glaring at me?" Heero looked really worried, and the two men - would boys be more appropriate ^^ - worked on the ceiling.

"It's not like you don't usually glare back. Just try to concentrate on Relena. Think nasty crap if it helps. Just don't think about him. Only worry when he talks to you." Duo grinned. "Man, I'm glad I'm not you!"

"Zechs wouldn't be like this if you were trying to date his sister. He just hates me in general."

"No he doesn't. He just resents you because you beat the crap out of him."

"You're not helping."

"Yes, I am, I'm holding up the board!"

"."

"Yeah, I know what you meant, pally."

"What the hell do I do if he asks something where I know he won' t like the answer?"

"Like what? So what if you've slept with Re, it's not that big of a deal!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm gonna go and tell my girlfriend's over-protective elder brother that I've slept with his sister. That'll go over real well. You can pay for the funeral as I won't be around anymore."

"Oh, come on! He isn't going to do anything to you! Plus, I'm sure Re'd cover for you if he did something like that." Duo suddenly grinned. "Just because he's still a virgin doesn't mean that we have to be." Duo laughed out loud and Heero grinned a little.

"Probably true."

"Well, no one who's getting it on a regular basis is that stiff!"

"Probably true."

"OK, now you're just saying the same thing over and over. Don't. It creeps me out."

"." Heero slammed the hammer down at the insult and somehow managed to smash his own hand. "Fuck!" Hilde shot into the room to watch Heero fall backwards off the ladder and land in a heap on the floor.

"Oh my God! Are you all right?"

"Itai! What do you think!" Heero groaned and rolled onto his back. "I think I sprained my ankle."

"Let me see it!" Hilde sat down next to him and started examining his ankle. Just then, the telephone rang. "Duo, can you get that?"

"Sure." Duo went to answer the phone. "Hey, Re." No one in the other room could hear him.

"Hey, is Heero over there? He took off before telling me where he was going. Normally that OK, but Milliardo is going to be here early. Actually, he'll be here in about fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, Heero's here. But I think he'll be late."

"Why?" Relena was now glaring.

"He fell off the ladder after smashing one of his fingers and landed on his ankle." Duo grinned embarrassedly.

"Is he all right?" Relena suddenly looked as thought she could care less if her brother was on his way. Suddenly Hilde yelled from the other room.

"Duo! I think your dear clumsy friend broke the damn thing! Geezus, you gotta see this!" Hilde was rewarded with a rather stressed.

"Oh, shut up, you!" Heero's voice sounded strained.

"Umm. Yeah, he's gonna be late." Duo grinned impishly.

"Why the hell was Heero up a ladder anyway?"

"Remember when I scorched the ceiling? Well, we were replacing the boards."

"That's a long way down!"

"Yeah, and it hurts more when you hit most of the steps on the ladder, too."

"Duo! Who's on the phone?" Hilde yelled from the other room.

"Uhh, Relena?" Duo sounded slightly nervous. Even Relena heard Heero groan.

"Hey!" She shouted. "I heard that, you!"

"Look, Re, we gotta get your dear boyfriend over to the hospital. He'll show up when he does." Duo reached to click the off button, but refrained when Relena glared at him.

"I really don't want to stall my brother. He was in a really bad mood when he called. That's never a good thing. He tends to overreact to things just a little bit more. Only Noin can get him to stop ranting." Relena looked slightly pale.

"There ain't much we can do about that, babe. Look, I gotta go. Heero'll be there when he gets there." Duo promptly hung up the phone.

"Come on." Hilde had helped Heero to his feet. "We'll use my car. Duo'll drive yours over to the hospital behind us so that you have a way to get home."

"Right. Duo, what did Relena want?" Heero asked his friend nervously.

"Zechs is gonna be early. He's to arrive in about ten minutes."

"Great. Wonderful. Peachy. Today has officially sucked." Heero groaned.

"Yeah, I'll bet." They drove to the hospital in silence - mainly because Duo was in another car completely.

Hilde helped Heero to the front desk and explained the situation. The nurse got them a doctor right away. That was good. The doctor helped Heero into his office and assured them that he had broken his ankle. As it was just a straight brake, he set it then and there and put it in a cast. Heero paid for this and the three of them set out from the hospital, one in crutches. Heero looked at his watch.

"That took two fucking hours! They're gonna kill me!" He looked pale.

"Well, don't speed." Hilde glared at the young man as he got into his car. "Duo, since Heero shouldn't be using that foot, why don't you drive him. I'll follow and pick you up."

"Good idea." Duo smiled and Heero just groaned again. "You have one hot car, dude." He gave him the thumbs up.

"I know."

"You probably do." Duo sweatdropped. "Well, let's go." They hit the road once more.

They arrived at the Peacecraft residence twenty minutes later - it's quite a ways from the hospital to Relena's estate. Heero noticed Zechs' car there right away and groaned again. Relena walked out the front door with her dreaded brother following behind her as Duo pulled to a stop, got out, and helped Heero out.

"Well, at least he wasn't making it up." Zechs remarked snidely.

"Milliardo." Relena protested.

"No, I didn't. Right now, I wish I had." Heero groaned as he crutched over to Duo who had started to leave and asked for his keys. Duo had completely forgotten about them - seriously.

"Heero, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He looked more annoyed than in pain. They all waved as Duo and Hilde drove away.

"Do you want to eat now?" Relena asked after a too-long silence from the men.

"Sure, why not." It was more of a statement than a question on Heero's part.

"OK." Relena led them inside and dinner was served.

The first five minutes went quite smoothly. Then the disaster started. The soup was being brought to the table when one of the maids tripped and the hot soup landed directly in the lap of - who else - Heero Yuy.

"Oh, great! Just great!" Heero was on his last nerve. The maid looked scared out of her mind and cleaned as quickly as possible then ran away as quickly as possible.

"I don't think she meant it, Heero." Relena tried to calm him down. In all aspects, Heero was quite calm. In fact, everything considered, he was remarkably calm.

"I know that!" He replied sarcastically.

"You don't have to snap at her." Zechs finally spoke up.

"I didn't snap. I'm being perfectly rational, so don't give me any crap, OK?" He definitely didn't look happy, that's for sure.

"You've been extremely unpleasant all night. I'll understand the ankle thing, and the soup, but taking it out on us is completely unreasonable." To Zechs' utter amazement, Heero started laughing lightly - the one from the earlier episodes, the creepy one. ::shudder::.

"Heero." Relena trailed off. She recognized this. Heero was beyond the point of pissed off. Nope, now he was doing something he hadn't done in quite a while. He was back into the time of his training.

"Zechs. I had originally planned to be as nice to you as is humanly possible. Not as nice as Quatre is, but as close as I can get. Well, you can just fuck off, OK, pal?"

"Heero, please don't." Relena was even frightened.

"Right now, I don't need this bull shit. I've had the day from Hell and you aren't helping matters." He continued. "So now, I'm going to go for a little drive." He grinned again. "I'll come back when I cool down, and apologize as I am not in a good way right now." This time they both saw it. Something in his eyes. That flicker of emotion that even now doesn't appear. For some reason, Heero Yuy was frightened. Of what, they couldn't figure out. He had no reason to be afraid, annoyed, mad, anxious, yes, but frightened? Neither understood. Not the one who had stayed through thick and thin, not the one who had tried his best to understand, yet not like his enemy.

"Heero, please. What's wrong? I know it's not just this. If you leave now, I'll be worried, and I know that you aren't going to do anything that either of us will find productive."

"Probably not."

"Yuy. She's right. Even I wouldn't feel good about letting you go now. You are a danger to yourself and others."

"Probably."

"Heero! Listen to us! We care about you, don't go doing anything you'll regret!"

"You care, yes, you are sincere, yes, but do you understand, no. I'm more of a danger here than in a car. You don't seem to understand that. If I become more agitated. well, I don't even know what I'll do." He chuckled softly. "I'm going to leave. Now." He grabbed his coat and stormed out the door. Ignoring crutches and everyone in the room. He moved as though the crutches had only been a waste of time and Zechs was seriously wondering if some how while he was upset, his ankle had healed itself. He was brought from his thoughts, however, when Relena started to cry.

"Relena, it'll be OK. You know that. It always is." It was obvious that he was trying to convince himself of the same thing.

"I know. That's not why I'm crying, brother."

Zechs didn't understand. "Then why?"

"Because I know what he means. That he's more of a danger here than away. Sometimes I think that Heero can't control himself even. That sometimes he acts in ways that even he doesn't agree with. Like subconsciously. As though his mind takes over his body."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Zechs looked at the door. He really did understand now.

*~~*~~*~~*

Heero sat in his car, driving with the top down. He had a classic Mercedes Convertible. He had the radio turned on and a slow song was playing.

I know you're out there somewhere

Some where, somewhere

I know I'll find you somehow

And somehow I'll return again to you

The mist is lifting slowly

I can see the way there And I've left behind the empty streets that once inspired my life And the strength of the emotion is like thunder in the air 'Cuz the promise that we made each other haunts me to the end I know you're out there somewhere Somewhere, somewhere I know you're out there somewhere Somewhere you can hear my voice I know I'll find you somehow Somehow, somehow I know I'll find you somehow And somehow I'll return again to you

Heero smiled at the lyrics. In a way they were perfect, yet in others, they weren't exactly fitting. But the song was relaxing. He had to give it that much credit.

He kept smiling at the song. So naïve, yet so true. Like the person singing knew the concept of life. He listened for the end, and the Radio Announcer told the world that the song had been called "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by: The Moody Blues. It was so relaxing. Heero instantly felt that his going for a drive had been the perfect idea. He would just drive until he felt relaxed, then drive back. He didn't care how far he went He knew that they'd thank him for it later. He wasn't stable just then. He'd had the sinking sensation that if he'd stayed he would have beaten the living daylights out of Zechs. or worse. He closed his eyes at the thought. He had vowed to be true to himself. No one else. Yet, somehow he knew that if something were to provoke him far enough, a subconscious would take over and leave a big mess. That had happened many times in the past. He couldn't control himself, and that scared the shit out of him. He had very seriously thought about drinking during times like that. Then there was Relena. They had only been dating for a year, despite popular demand. That had sure been an interesting discussion subject. He smiled genuinely. It had been a rather odd day that day. Relena had been. too chipper for her own well being. She had been practically bouncing off the walls and driving her guards completely nuts! Heero had been called down there on his one day off - he got one about every three months or so - to try and help calm her down. Even he had been amazed at the girl's energy supply! She had been completely wild! He had finally lost his patience, grabbed her, and tied her to a chair. This had - obviously - caused quite a ruckus! She had been pissed, to say the absolute least. Heero had just smiled and sat on her desk. He remembered that whole scene well.

*~~*~~* Flashback *~~*~~*

"Heero Yuy! Untie me this instant!"

"Do you promise to calm down?"

"No! I have no reason to!"

"Then you're staying where you are."

"Oh! Do you want to look for another job?"

"I'm sure that there are plenty of other politicians who don't go bonkers every so often and drive their entire building insane. I could just work for one of them." Heero said nonchalantly. He blinked a couple of times as she stared at him.

"I believe that's the first time I've heard you say that much in one sitting other than giving some sort of speech."

He had just glared at her indignantly. "That's not true."

"Oh, really? Do I hear things that I don't notice or something?"

"You're very rude and hypocritical, did you know that?"

"You're one to talk!" She had glared at him worse than he had glared at her and caused him to flush a little.

"You just haven't known me that long!" He shot back at her.

"Really now, eight and a half years isn't very long, huh?"

"No! I happen to be twenty-four. That's only one third of my life."

"It's enough to know that you usually don't say that much!"

"I used to talk quite a bit, I'm just more reserved now!"

"'Reserved'? Is that what you call it? I call it being huffy and stuck up!"

"Ha! Look in the mirror, sweetheart!"

"Ass! You never speak to anyone, keep to yourself, act like you have a twenty-foot pole shoved up your ass, and seem to think that you aren't worth jack squat! Well, you know what, you need to lighten up, buddy! Get a life or something! You can't just sit around and be a bodyguard all your life! You need to find yourself someone that you love, get married, and live happily! You deserve it just as much as the next person! The war's over, if you hadn't noticed! There is no need for people who just can't accept that peace is here! You deserve what everyone else has. You deserve to be happy and to do that you need to let go! Let go of your past and whatever happened that made you stop trusting people! I mean, geez! You're on edge all the time! Even around me! And I'm your friend! Let people know how you feel! Just-" Relena had stopped short when Heero suddenly stood up.

"Nice speech." He glared at her. "But you don't know shit about me, so don't assume anything! I live my life the way I see fit! Maybe I'm not used to peace, maybe I'm not as social as I should be, and maybe I need to lighten up! I'll admit it! But you don't seem to realize that it's just not that simple! You never saw the things I did, you'd never understand why I can't let it go! And you don't seem to realize that I'm trying! God, I am! I've tried with all the might I have to act the same as anybody else! I can't, Relena! I just can't! You may think that I'm giving up too easily. I'm not. I've been trying for a long time now. Trying to be just like you and Duo and everybody else. It's just not that easy, I have too many things that weight me down. Right when I think that my past is behind me, something else happens to shove it right back in my face! If peace were truly here, then there wouldn't be any battles. You don't seem to realize that there are battles still being fought everyday everywhere. Some people just don't want peace. I do, I really do. I want everyone to realize just how hard we fought, but not everyone will realize. Humanity is too stubborn. Relena, I came from a military organization. That organization and many others are still in working order! I know! Hell, I've met the leaders of most of them! Geezus, even my own sister still fights! She won't stop, either. It's just our way of life, Relena. We being humans. Many people still have reasons to fight, people to fight for. We can't call it true peace until those people are at peace as well. No one can heal the wounds of some, either. Some mere physical, some mental. I know many men that I used to be good friends with that have seen so many things that they can't even see straight. You didn't live my life, you can't judge me. No one but I can do that. I think lowly of myself because I'm not a good person at all. I've killed more people than you know. You're thinking. 'Sure, that's what war is about', but that's not it, Relena! I've been a soldier since before I can remember. I've killed as many people before the war as during it. Most of them were innocent as well. Accidents did some of it, then there were the people that we didn't know were innocent until it was too late. I was forced to judge people before getting to know them and act on that judgment. You don't know what it feels like to watch everyone around you die and you are the only one who survives. Cruel fate lets you live when you would gladly have passed on. You just don't understand." He trailed off. Relena looked at the eyes of the man before her. They were open to the world. Pain had filled their clear blue depths and they traced paths on the floor. The twenty-four-year- old man before her looked closer to seventy. Worn out and used up, his body was no longer alert, he was just barely there.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to judge you. That wasn't what I meant. You know it wasn't."

"I'm sorry that I blurted that all out. And no, it didn't seem as you were judging me. I felt as if you had already done that and stamped it as the end of the issue. Even I will admit that my life doesn't hold much meaning, and that my purpose is over. Why can't you? I wasn't meant for a world without war. Heartless people shouldn't live in a world with too much heart. They tend to feel out of place and as though their purpose is no longer there."

Relena suddenly smiled in spite of herself, shocking the young man. "If I weren't tied down, I'd hug you. But, as I am, I can only say it." She looked moderately surprised as Heero smiled with her and chuckled a little. She was even more surprised when he walked around behind her and untied her.

"I think you've calmed down a bit. Have you not? I'd calm to the point of boredom too if an idiot started preaching at me." He smiled sadly and went to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow, Relena-san." He smiled and was about to open the door when Relena grabbed him from behind and turned him around.

"Don't talk like that. You have a purpose, you have meaning, and you have people that love you, Heero. Please don't talk that way. It hurts those of us who care. We try so hard to understand you, and you seem to just want to make it more difficult. We get to a certain point on your defenses and you push us away, We aren't going to hurt you, you know. We'll never leave you, or demoralize you, and we won't stop trying. No, never. Heero, you know perfectly well that we care about you more than you think we should. You aren't useless and we don't despise you. We all love you. In our own way, sure, but we do. Don't talk down about yourself, Heero Yuy. I think that I'd have to smack you if you did it again!"

"But I don't see the point in my existence. How could you?" He asked in a disbelieving and humorous tone.

"Because, no matter how hard you try to hide yourself, we always can tell what you fell or what you're thinking. Well, maybe not all the time, but for the most part. Hiding yourself isn't healthy. We care too much about you to watch you waste away like that."

"Then you care more than I do, Relena. I don't care what happens to me. It doesn't really matter." He looked slightly surprised to see that the Princess was crying. "Why are you crying? I don't understand."

"If you hate yourself so much, then why did you let yourself live? Why did you try so hard to stay alive at the end of the Eve War? Why do you let us be your friends? I know why. Because secretly, you just want to be happy, but you don't know how to show that urge. So, you think of yourself as weak and your existence pointless. But you can be happy. I know you can." Relena looked up at him gently.

"How, though?" He sighed. "It's impossible. Just give up, I have." Heero looked older than he truly was at that moment.

"But that's just it. I can't."

"Yes, you-" He was cut off from his next sentence as Relena lightly kissed him. When the kiss broke, both participants looked slightly flushed. "Why did you do that?" Heero finally asked.

"Because I wanted to." Relena smiled. "And I don't regret it."

"But-" He was once again cut off, only this time the kiss was more urgent and forceful. He didn't even try to get away. Before he could realize and - ultimately - stop what he was doing, Heero found himself kissing back and soon found himself pressed against the door behind him. Not knowing exactly what to do in a situation like this, Heero just slipped his arms gently around her waist and Relena's hands cupped the sides of his face. They broke only for air and then kissed again. This pattern continued for quite a long time before they both decided that they needed to go home. Though, nothing was the same afterwards. And, in Duo's phrasing, officially became a couple four weeks and three days later - Relena counted. You can just guess what that means. ^^

*~~*~~*~~* End Flashback *~~*~~*~~*

Heero smiled lightly and also found himself blushing. Relena had been right. He could be happy. But he couldn't truly be a peace with himself until all the scars on his soul had been revealed. He just wasn't ready for that yet.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Meanwhile, Zechs had decided to go home, after telling Relena to apologize to Heero for him, and saying that he'd call another time to do it in person. He drove home in silence. Contemplating what had just happened. He had to admit that he didn't hate Yuy as much as everyone thought he did. He just couldn't understand him and that was frustrating. Zechs could, for the most part, understand all of the other Gundam Pilots and why they were the way they were, they had revealed those reasons. Heero hadn't joined in the day they had each told their stories, he had just kept silent while everyone felt as though he didn't feel like he could. They all later realized that he was just scared, but they knew not to pressure him.

Upon reaching his home, Zechs decided to e-mail Noin and tell her about what happened. She was his best friend and understood most of the things on his mind. No, she wasn't just his best friend. She was the one person he loved in a way the he himself couldn't even begin to describe. He was just hesitant to tell anyone. He knew that he still had enemies that were always looking for a way to exploit him. He knew that Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wu Fei each had enemies, but they weren't the kind that would actually start something. Heero on the other hand probably had more - and worse - enemies than Zechs did. Zechs didn't understand why he put Relena at risk. They could use her against him at any moment.

Zechs knew that he couldn't do anything that would endanger the one he loved, but he couldn't resist telling her how he felt. He had done so and gotten the one response that he wasn't prepared for. He was prepared if she slapped him, or just stared at him, or tried to just cue him out, or even in the slight instant where she would return his feelings. But what she had done had most definitely been the one thing he wasn't prepared for. Lucrezia Noin had smiled at him lightly. then she had kissed him. At first he thought that it had been some sort of joke, but Noin seemed to realize that he was thinking that and done it again, only with more force. Heaven forbid him from trying to stop her, either. This was what he had been hoping she'd do. Only in words instead of actions. Later, he realized that if she did return his feelings, she wasn't simply going to say so, like he did. Noin acted on things. He should have guessed that. But, it didn't stop him from being thrilled. No, he had been beside himself. They had, actually, made out for about four hours afterwards. Now, they were - for lack of a better description - having something slightly like an affair. They didn't tell anyone, though they knew that everyone would be happy for them. They just wanted to keep it to themselves, though that was becoming steadily more difficult. People didn't realize how hard it was not to give off hints that you wanted desperately to just grab that person then and there and do things that shouldn't be anywhere near the eyes of children. or adults for that matter.

He sighed as he signed on to his computer. This was going to be a hard thing to explain over a computer.


End file.
